Chatter

On-the-Job Training
One of the perks of having your name above the movie title, as Julianne Moore does playing a single mom in The Shipping News, is a private on-set trailer for use as a dressing room. It has drawbacks too, as Moore has discovered with Caleb Freundlich, her 4-year-old son with director Bart Freundlich, her live-in boyfriend. "Caleb thinks I work in a trailer," says Moore, 41, "because every time he comes to work, we end up in the trailer somewhere." Gradually, though, the youngster has learned that Mom doesn't just sit in front of a makeup mirror all day. "He knows about acting now," she says. "He knows how to act, be a character and put on a costume." Is it any surprise, then, that the son of the actress who played Clarice Starling in Hannibal has a preference for scary beasts? "He likes to be the characters from Monsters, Inc. and Shrek and those kinda guys," says Moore. "He's not afraid of things like some of his friends are. He'll say, 'I know it's just pretend.' Because he knows it's what I do."

Thimble-Minded
In the period film Gosford Park, Jeremy Northam hobnobs with a bunch of well-bred swells, but don't ask him which fork to use at a fancy dinner party. "I get kind of hysterical, and it makes, me want to misbehave," says the 40-year-old British actor, who plays 1930s star composer Ivor Novello. His Gosford character is waited on hand and foot, but Northam manages perfectly well on his own. "My mother made sure I could cook and clean, but sewing I'm not good at," he says. "It takes me about half an hour to thread a needle."

Looks Good in Genes
After acting novice Chris Klein, at the time an Omaha high school senior, auditioned to play the guileless jock in the 1999 dark comedy Election, he figured that was that and headed off to college as planned. Halfway through the first semester, though, he got the call. The part was his if he wanted it. "I said, 'Let me think about it' "—millisecond pause—" 'Okay, sure,' " recalls Klein, who stars opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in the sci-fi actioner RollerBall, opening Feb. 8. Now residing in Hollywood, Klein, 22, has several hits under his belt (American Pie and its 2001 sequel) and a lot of female fans whose adulation he takes with gentlemanly modesty. "I understand how girls feel because I had my crushes as a teen," he says. "All I tell them is that I'm flattered and that they should write a note to my parents thanking them for passing on some good genes."

Twists and Shouts
When it comes to exercising, Michelle Pfeiffer would like to get one thing straight: her body. "I hate yoga, I hate yoga," chants Pfeiffer, who costars with Sean Penn in the drama I Am Sam, of the one exercise regimen she absolutely refuses to try as a way of keeping her 43-year-old frame in shape. "All these people with their yoga. Your body isn't supposed to bend like that, it's not natural."

King-Size Disappointment
Since his five-year stint on CBS's Northern Exposure ended in 1995, John Corbett has kept his own exposure to a minimum. That changed a year ago when he joined the cast of HBO's Sex and the City. Corbett, though, would just as soon continue to keep a low profile. "I think actors should be seen and not heard," he says. "The less you know, the better it is for him when he takes different roles. Once you know the guy likes to eat Cap'n Crunch and he's sleeping with what's-her-name, then there's no mystery left." For the record, he likes Cap'n Crunch. "As for who sleeps next to me," says Corbett, 40, "the world doesn't need to know." Aw, what's so wrong with letting the public in on your private life? "You know, years ago in an interview I mentioned that I liked Elvis," he says, "and everything that I got from fans from that point on was Elvis, Elvis, Elvis. Now I hate Elvis."